Follow this outline for creating your response in an MLA format essay
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Topic 1 – Explain the 13th Amendment. Think about these questions as you write this paragraph:
How is it different from the Emancipation Proclamation?
Explain the phrase, “Punishment for a crime.” in your own words.
How do you think Lincoln encouraged Southerners to vote for this amendment?
Topic 2 – Explain the 14th Amendment. Think about these questions as you write this paragraph:
Discuss the citizenship provision. How does this relate with the Three-Fifths Compromise?
Discuss the requirements for Confederate officers to rejoin the government? Based on the Civil War, do you think those provisions were fair?
Discuss the public debt statement. How is it relevant today? Why was was it included in the original 14th Amendment?
Topic 3 – Explain the 15th Amendment. Think about these questions as you write this paragraph:
Discuss the following words or phrases found in the amendment:
Race
Color
Previous condition of servitude
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The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was ratified in 1865, differentiating itself from the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states but did not abolish slavery nationwide (Foner, 2015). The phrase “punishment for a crime” refers to involuntary labor or servitude that can be imposed via the criminal justice system as a legal penalty. Lincoln likely encouraged Southerners to support this amendment by emphasizing the moral necessity of ending slavery and appealing to their patriotism to reunite and rebuild the nation after the Civil War (Guelzo, 2012).
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves, which directly addressed the Three-Fifths Compromise that had counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes (Foner, 2015). It also prohibited states from denying any person life, liberty or property without due process of law or denying people equal protection under the law. The requirements for Confederate officers to take an oath to uphold the Constitution in order to rejoin the government seemed a fair stipulation following the rebellion and division caused by the Civil War. Additionally, the amendment validated the public debt of the United States while prohibiting the repayment of debts or claims of the Confederate States of America and its allies, demonstrating the federal authority over states’ rights issues that had sparked the Civil War (Guelzo, 2012).
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibited the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” extending the democratic process to African American men following the abolition of slavery (Foner, 2015). This was an important milestone in establishing equal protection under the law and recognizing freed slaves as citizens with inherent rights, though voting discrimination persisted in some Southern states for nearly a century thereafter (Guelzo, 2012).
Foner, E. (2015). Reconstruction: America’s unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. HarperCollins.
Guelzo, A. C. (2012). Lincoln’s Emancipationmancipationmancipation Proclamation: The end of slavery in America. Simon and Schuster.
History.com Editors. (2009). Fifteenth amendment passes. History. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fifteenth-amendment-passes
National Archives. (n.d.). 14th amendment to the U.S. constitution. Our Documents. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=43